On Nov 14, 11:29*am, stuart noble wrote:

I've just blocked up my garage door and plan to render tomorrow. *It's
only a small panel, 2.2 x 2.1m with a 1.0 x 1.2m window and I'm going to
use a sand / cement mix with plasticiser.

That size is fairly easy to do, using a length of 6"x1" to level it with
the surrounding render. The difficult bit is matching the surface texture..

Too late now if he has built it to finish flush but a slight step in
would have made life easier all around.

Use a 4 to 1 mix and apply a scratch coat. Next day the final.

Your biggest problem is rain falling on it before it is dry. You
shouldn't have too much trouble with cracking, that is a summer thing.

4 metres isn't worth getting a mixer for.

What you do need is a flexible trowel. A cheap one will be hard to use.